I have been growing Japanese Maples from seed for about 10 years.
I regularly add Osmocote slow release fertiliser and I water with Powerfeed and Seasol every other week. But I often wonder how much difference these products make.
So I decided to do a little experiment with 4 Japanese Maple seedlings, to test the impact of these products.
From left to right:
Seasol, Slow Release, Control, Powerfeed.
All 4 trees came from the same seed and germinated at the same time. They are all in the same size pot and have the same soil (approximately 60%/40% organic to inorganic).
The trees are all roughly the same size except the Control plant has a few more leaves, so has a bit of a head start.
I will water all plants daily and at least once a week I will apply Seasol and Powerfeed to the appropriate trees.
The Slow Release tree has a good layer of Slow Release fertiliser on the surface of the pot and 2 fertiliser baskets, which I will keep topped up.
The control will just get water.
I'll report back every few months.
Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
- TimS
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
I’ll be following this with interest! I’ve wondered a few times how much good my liquid feeding is actually doing compared to fertiliser cakes
- one_bonsai
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
Great idea to test these things rather than just assuming they're doing something.
- treeman
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
I'm just so pleased to see you using the word impact as noun and not a verb.
Mike
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
Looking forward to the results. Excellent idea.
Thanks for sharing this.
Greg
Thanks for sharing this.
Greg
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
Hey Aquaman ... any initial updates on your test. Perhaps a bit early to see any difference
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Tending bonsai teaches me patience.
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
Hi Aquaman,
As we are now in Autumn, how have the maples travelled?
I have a couple of seedlings and planning on potting up more in spring, plus a heap of trident seedlings that will be due for repotting.
Any feedback will be welcomed as planning activities start to include actions for spring.
Thanks,
Sisto
As we are now in Autumn, how have the maples travelled?
I have a couple of seedlings and planning on potting up more in spring, plus a heap of trident seedlings that will be due for repotting.
Any feedback will be welcomed as planning activities start to include actions for spring.
Thanks,
Sisto
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
Hey. Just wondering what the end results were for this experiment.
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Re: Fertiliser Comparison - Japanese Maples
He hasn’t been on here since 2019 so you guys may not get a reply
Cheers
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Great oaks from little acorns grow.